Mistletoe Misadventure
by writeringoodfaith
Summary: MLB/HP AU: It's his first Christmas and Hogwarts has been besieged by the parasitic and poisonous plant known as mistletoe. Adrien Agreste doesn't want to break tradition but he also doesn't want to kiss people … that he doesn't want to kiss. What's a Hufflepuff to do? Maybe his resourceful friend Marinette can come up with a solution?
1. Adrien's POV

_**Author's Note:**_

_Not gonna lie, kind of indirectly inspired by all of the netflix christmas movies I've consumed this month. It's so cheesy, Plagg would like this story, so fluffy Marinette could make an excellent sweater out of it._

_Picture credit: _bechkit on tumblr!

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How could one innocent plant be the cause of so much inconvenience? Adrien Agreste had been at Hogwarts for just three months but already he felt like he knew more ins and outs of the castle than your average fifth-year. All by necessity, of course. When December started, he was delighted by all of the Christmas decorations. The gamekeeper brought gigantic trees into the Great Hall. The charms professor decorated the tree with garlands, baubles and candles (with the help of some surly seventh-years who did it during class-time) and snow blanketed the Scottish countryside and beautiful Hogwarts grounds. Before his mother passed away, Christmas was a time of cheer and festivity. And so it was kind of a no brainer to decide to stay back at Hogwarts for the Christmas break.

But then a new decoration started appearing throughout the castle. In corridors. At doorways. Even at the entrance of his common room at one point.

Mistletoe. A toxic, parasitic plant he was now intimately acquainted with. At Beauxbatons, he'd never faced such egregious classmates. After the historic incident of 1951 which led to a full-blown duel between two students, mistletoe had been banned within the French school.

So the first time a student pointed up at the mistletoe above him, he assumed it was a cute little Hogwarts tradition and pressed a quick kiss onto the cheek of the person he was caught under the mistletoe with. He didn't know the girl, didn't know squat and didn't want to break tradition. And besides, cheek kisses were commonly done between friends, acquaintances, an aunt you hadn't seen in years…. He could do that.

The second time it happened, the student pointed out expectantly that if he didn't kiss her, he'd be cursing her with bad luck forever. He grimaced as he pressed a kiss to that person's cheek.

The third time it happened, it was a girl he did recognise. Lila Rossi. She was in Slytherin. When she pointed out the mistletoe outside of the potions classroom, he grimaced but resigned himself to his fate. When he closed his eyes to bend down and press a kiss to her smirking face, he wasn't anticipating that she'd swerve and catch it on the lips. He pulled back immediately, and couldn't hide the resulting cringe. Chloe yelled at Lila for bothering her Adrikins but Adrien had just shook his head, not wanting to make a scene. Briefly his mind went to Marinette, one of his closest friends since moving to Hogwarts, and he wondered whether she was there to witness him being caught in the mistletoe trap before remembering that she currently had a cold and had been sent to the hospital wing at the beginning of class to take a pepper up potion.

Ever since that day, Adrien's Hogwarts-navigating ability had levelled up. He would not be caught unawares. When he confided to Nino and Alya the "mistletoe issue", Alya just pointed out that he could just say no to all of these clamouring students. But Nino had laughed and rested an arm on Adrien's shoulder in solidarity. 'Alya, my bold and brave Gryffindor, what you have to remember about us Hufflepuffs is that we are _non-confrontational_.' Nino stretched the last word out. 'I get you, bro. Avoiding is easier. Why don't you ask Marinette for some additional castle navigational tips? She's gotten pretty good at taking shortcuts over the years because she's always running late.' Adrien nodded seriously. 'Yeah, okay. I'll ask her!'

He did ask her. And she one-upped his suggestion by suggesting that they hunt for and remove mistletoe during their Friday night patrol. Trust Marinette to think outside of the box and delve headfirst into a solution to the crux of the problem.

Eagerly, he agreed.

So, it was late on Friday evening that he found himself strolling side by side with his dark-haired friend, working on their vanishing spell skills.

'You're really great at the vanishing spell, Marinette!' he complimented her as she angled her wand to vanish mistletoe halfway down the corridor without breaking a sweat. 'Your aim is so good.'

She giggled in response. 'This is the one transfiguration spell that doesn't make me break out into hives,' she admitted. 'I've had particular practice with this spell because I'm pretty clumsy. Lots of spills in life to clean up.'

He nodded, remembering that time he said hi to her in the Great Hall and her slipping, dropping her plate and managing to knock down Chloe's glass of pumpkin juice from her hand and onto the floor at the same time. His childhood friend had stood up, ready to scream and Marinette had quickly diffused the situation with some quick spellwork, removing the mess.

They made their way through the castle, Marinette showing him an alternative way to get from their potions classroom in the dungeons to the kitchen, ("This is a pathway only Slytherin students know," - she had confided, "It goes by our common room") thereby avoiding a whole swathe of passageway usually flocked by students as the main thoroughfare between classes.

Marinette walked slightly ahead of him, vanishing mistletoe as she went along. He watched, impressed by her wandwork. She made the spell look so easy but he knew it wasn't. He knew from Nathalie who had painstakingly gone through the fifth-year curriculum with him before starting that vanishing something was part of their transfiguration OWL exams. And here Marinette was, three months into the year vanishing things with a mere flick of her wand and a muttered 'evanesco.'

As the torchlight from the corridors illuminated her figure before him, he thought she looked like a literal Christmas angel. Her dark hair slightly wavy after a long day in pigtails and her robes billowing behind her as she walked. When she turned around, green tie flying around her as she turned, a smile crinkled her eyes as she beckoned him to keep up. But then she suddenly stopped walking. And the pretty smile slid off her face as she looked up above him.

'I missed some mistletoe!' exclaimed Marinette, rushing back to him and raising her wand arm as she did so. Her vanishing spell missed too from that distance and Adrien lifted his own wand to try and vanish it.

'Evenesco!' he declared. Maybe some grime behind the mistletoe disappeared, but the mistletoe certainly didn't. He raised his hand to ruffle the hair on the back of his head as he awkwardly admitted, 'Looks like I still need to work on the spell.'

Marinette reached him in an instant and as she looked up towards the mistletoe above them, time seemed to slow. Her lashes grazed her cheeks as she tilted her head to regard him and he noticed with startling clarity a light dusting of freckles across the bridge of her nose. A sudden urge to trace them with his fingertips came unbidden. She blinked her bluebell eyes - and he gulped, wondering suddenly what he had just had for dinner and hoping there wasn't garlic or onions in it.

'Um,' began Marinette and he was mesmerised by the way her lips moved. 'I think your pronunciation might have been the problem.'

'Oh?' his response was unintelligible.

'Yeah. It's evANesco, not evENesco.'

'Evanesco,' he repeated after her, softly. He looked up at the mistletoe above them to cast his spell and then realised that he was now standing directly under it with Marinette. 'Marinette, we're directly under the mistletoe!' he blurted out.

Her eyes widened and she looked up at the offending plant, a rosy blush creeping onto her cheeks in the most endearing way. 'Look,' she began, blushing furiously. 'I heard what happened with Lila. You definitely don't have to worry about such underhanded behaviour from me.'

Now he was blushing furiously. 'That's different. That wasn't consensual.'

'Would this be a consensual kiss then, Adrien Agreste?' the way she said his full name had a very strange effect on a pit at the bottom of his stomach, which suddenly felt like it was made out of jelly, instead of blood and tissue.

'I-' he trailed off. Did he want to kiss her? He hadn't really thought of it like that before. He'd been spending the whole month trying to avoid kissing anyone. Was you're beautiful and I only noticed it just now an acceptable answer between very good friends?

She noticed his hesitation and grinned ruefully. 'Well, if consent is not an issue, it would be a shame to break tradition, wouldn't it?'

Marinette really was a witch. She could warp the time flow continuum. He could swear the clock adorning the wall nearby seemed to tick slower as her eyes closed and she stood on her tiptoes, lips pressed together and pointed towards his face. He closed his eyes too and leaned forward. Her lips were feather light on his when they touched. Then, he wasn't sure what happened first. One of his hands found their way on the small of her back, and one of hers ran through his hair and he kissed her again. And again. She kissed him back, her soft lips parting to allow him better access. The space between them vanished without anybody casting a spell.

When they finally broke apart, panting slightly in the empty corridor, he pressed one more kiss to the side of her cheek. 'Merry Christmas, Marinette.'

Then he pointed his wand upwards towards the mistletoe above them and declared firmly, 'Evanesco!'

The poisonous, parasitic plant vanished and he grinned, proud of his handiwork. 'Shall we?' he gestured to the rest of the corridor. He wasn't sure whether his heart could handle any more surprise mistletoe attacks with Marinette. But he sure looked forward to finding out.

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**_Author's Note:_**

_Stay tuned for chapter 2: Marinette's POV!_


	2. Marinette's POV

**Marinette's POV:**

Marinette heard about the Lila Rossi mistletoe attack on Adrien from Nino's own lips a few hours after it happened when he visited her in the hospital wing. She felt horrified. Firstly, at Nino's clear description of Adrien not enjoying the kiss at all but sticking with it out of politeness and a desire to avoid confrontation. She felt so sorry for him and outrage on his behalf that Lila would trick him into kissing her on the lips. Lila had claimed it was an accident but Marinette scoffed. The only accidents that happened around that girl were of her own manipulation. Secondly, and a guilty secondly at that, the whole fiasco kind of nipped her mistletoe daydream with Adrien in the bud, right? The castle already had heard rumours that Adrien Agreste actually followed tradition, would kiss complete strangers if the circumstances arose and was an amazing kisser. She'd seen the amount of casual mistletoe in the castle almost double this Christmas and it wasn't hard to connect the dots and see why.

But no. Her friendship with Adrien would come first. She told Nino that she knew lots of ways to navigate around the castle, borne mostly out of a need to cut corners on her way to her morning classes after her night-time design inspiration kept her up at night and her roommates left her snoring through breakfast.

When he came to her for help, another idea occurred to her! She could spend the prefect patrol shift with Adrien clearing out all of the mistletoe that had sprung up throughout the castle. After getting permission from the Head students to do so, that would really help Adrien's situation.

When their prefect shift rolled on by, a spell she had picked up in fourth year via extra study after her disgruntled self had spilt one too many things came in handy.

'You're really great at the vanishing spell, Marinette! Your aim is so good.' When Adrien complimented her she couldn't help a pleased giggle escaping her.

'This is the one transfiguration spell that doesn't make me break out into hives,' she admitted. 'I've had particular practice with this spell because I'm pretty clumsy. Lots of spills in life to clean up.'

She went ahead of him, working on increasing the range of her vanishing spell. After a while she glanced behind her and realised that she had left Adrien behind. And also left some mistletoe. 'I missed some mistletoe!' she exclaimed.

Adrien looked up above him and pointed his wand. 'Evenesco!'

The mistletoe did not vanish. 'Um,' began Marinette, walking back towards him. 'I think your pronunciation might have been the problem.'

'Oh?'

'Yeah. It's evANesco, not evENesco,' she clarified.

'Evanesco,' he repeated after her, softly. She nodded at him encouragingly and waited for him to try and cast the spell again. Adrien looked up at the mistletoe but instead of casting the spell, he blurted, 'Marinette, we're directly under the mistletoe!'

She felt her cheeks redden with embarrassment as he pointed that out. 'Look, I heard what happened with Lila. You definitely don't have to worry about such underhanded behaviour from me.'

Adrien turned a curious shade of red at her statement. 'That's different. That wasn't consensual,' he explained.

She noticed the tips of his ears go red to match his blush. It was freaking adorable, a look she hadn't seen on him before, and she couldn't resist a taunt, 'Would this be a consensual kiss then, Adrien Agreste?'

'I-' Adrien began, but he didn't finish. Instead, his blush deepened.

She grinned, seeing an opportunity present itself. 'Well, if consent is not an issue, it would be a shame to break tradition, wouldn't it?'

Closing her eyes and hoping for the best, she stood on tiptoes to reach his cheek. She was startled when warm lips instead met hers. He was kissing her, Adrien Agreste was kissing her! She almost died on the spot. Luckily she didn't though, because he paused to kiss her again. And again. And then she lost count as he pulled her close and she tilted her head, feeling a shiver of pleasure as their mouths opened in unison. As they kissed, she reached up to run her fingers through his blonde hair, finally living a recurring daydream of hers. His hair was so soft, and his large hand was a warm, comforting presence at the small of her back. When they finally broke apart, their breathing sounded loud in the empty corridor and she noticed with a hint of pride that his lips were swollen from their kisses. She wondered what her own looked like. Adrien then bent forward to press a butterfly soft kiss on her cheek and whispered, 'Merry Christmas, Marinette.'

Then he pointed his wand upwards towards the mistletoe above them and declared firmly, 'Evanesco!'

This time, the mistletoe vanished and she smiled at him, pleased at his spellwork progress. 'Shall we?' he gestured to the rest of the corridor. Marinette didn't know whether her brain could work, let alone the fine motor skills required to move her legs after a kiss like that. But he pulled her along, her hand encased in his, so she supposed she was about to find out.


End file.
